We analyzed strontium isotopes in more than 500 samples of shell, bone, and dental enamel from modern and archaeological contexts throughout Mesoamerica. The results correspond closely with expectations based upon the local geology and earlier measurements of geological materials. The results show that isotopic variation is significant across Mesoamerica. Thus strontium isotope ratios in dental enamel, which mark the place of childhood residence, can be used not only to document mobility but also in some cases to determine geographic origin. We present five archaeological case studies to illustrate the anthropological significance and range of applications for this technique: the origins of individuals in the “Oaxaca Barrio” at Teotihuacan, a northern origin for the founder of Copan, a local king at Tikal, the regional origin of two of Palenque's rulers, and individuals of African birth in a colonial cemetery in Campeche.

Dental caries and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) are investigated in a Classic Maya sample obtained from the sites of Calakmul, Dzibanché, and Kohunlich (Mexico). This study aims at assessing the effect that sex and social status had on the prevalence of oral pathologies. The lack of a direct relationship between caries, AMTL, and age-at-death led us to interpret the results in terms of the biological, socioeconomic, and behavioral conditions prevailing in these ancient Maya settlements. Benefits related to sex and social status are evident in the frequency of carious lesions, which appear less frequently in elite males than in low-status individuals of both sexes and in elite females. Individuals from problematic mortuary contexts and isolated bone assemblages, who could not be ascribed to any status group, showed the highest rates of caries. Sex discrimination in dietary preferences appears in the elite sample, while the homogeneity encountered between sexes in the low-status segment suggests a more uniform access to resources. Tooth loss clearly distinguishes elite individuals from commoners, regardless of sex, with the former bearing a much higher rate of loss. In individuals from the undefined mortuary assemblages and sacrificial contexts, it was even more pronounced than in the other groups, although its interpretation is problematic due to a lack of associated funerary data. The overall evidence from oral pathologies is interpreted to be the result of deficient oral hygiene coupled with a softer and more refined diet in the high-status population, particularly males. Whereas elite males' subsistence was apparently based more on animal proteins and relatively soft and refined foods, a diet relying on carbohydrates may account for the observed rate of oral pathologies in elite females and commoners.

Construction activities around Campeche's central park led to the discovery of an early colonial church and an associated burial ground, in use from the mid-16th century AD to the late 17th century. Remains of some individuals revealed dental mutilations characteristic of West Africa. Analyses of strontium isotopes of dental enamel from these individuals yielded unusually high (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios, inconsistent with an origin in Mesoamerica, but consistent with an origin in West Africa in terrain underlain by the West Africa Craton, perhaps near the port of Elmina, a principal source of slaves for the New World during the 16th century. These individuals likely represent some of the earliest representatives of the African Diaspora in the Americas.

In AD 2000, construction activities in the central plaza of the city of Campeche, Mexico, led to the discovery of an early colonial church and an associated burial ground dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries AD. During the subsequent rescue excavations, the remains of at least 180 individuals were unearthed from the churchyard. We have concluded a series of isotopic studies of these remains to obtain information on diet, status, place of origin, and date of burial. This work involves the application of both light and heavy isotope analyses to both tooth enamel and human bone. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were measured in tooth enamel and bone. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on bone collagen. Strontium and lead isotopes were measured in tooth enamel, and the ratios were compared to a large database for the Maya region. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for 10 of the skeletons to evaluate the date of burial and the period of use of the cemetery. The results of our study, interpreted jointly with mortuary information and conventional skeletal examination, provide detailed information on the overall burial population, a sort of collective life history of the deceased individuals. In the context of the historical background, new insights on living conditions, mobility, and diet of the founding generations in the colonial New World are obtained. A new and direct appreciation on life and death in an early multiethnic colonial Spanish town, including its historically invisible sectors-children, women, servants, and slaves-becomes possible.In the study described here, we examine the isotopic composition of bone and tooth enamel from a number of the individuals buried in an early colonial cemetery in the modern city of Campeche, on the west coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. We are interested in questions about diet, status, place of birth, and date of burial. We employ isotopes of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, lead, and strontium in this study. Carbon isotopes in bone collagen, bone mineral, and tooth mineral have been measured in some of the skeletal remains. We have also measured radiocarbon isotopes in bone collagen for age determinations. Oxygen isotopes have been measured in bone mineral and tooth enamel. Nitrogen isotopes have been measured in bone collagen. Strontium and lead isotope ratios have been assayed in tooth enamel and strontium isotopes in bone mineral. Lead isotope ratios have been measured in a few enamel samples. The isotopic results are examined in light of the contextual evidence of discovery and the biological and biocultural information provided by the analyses of the human remains.The first sections of this article provide some historical background on the early town of Campeche and the early church that was the focus of religious ceremony and sacred burial. A description of the excavations provides the archaeological and taphonomic context of the human burials in the Campeche plaza cemetery. These and conventional bioarchaeological studies provide the basic a...

Patterns of carious lesions were analyzed in the Classic period coastal Maya population of Xcambó, a salt production and administration center in northern Yucatan. To this end, the study investigated caries in the permanent dentitions of 163 adult skeletons, 23 from the Early Classic (AD 250-550) and 140 from the Late Classic period (AD 550-750), equally distributed between sexes. The archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence indicates a wealthy and socially homogeneous population dedicated to salt production and administration in the Early Classic that switched to pure administrative functions in the Late Classic. The results indicate an increase in caries from 7.4% and 21.2% (males and females respectively) from the Early Classic to 14.0% in males and 27.4% in females from the Late Classic period. The rate of caries in the Early and in the Late Classic phases of continuous occupation is not consistent with a simple interpretation of a heavier reliance on maize during the latter phase, characterized by a sedentary lifestyle, particularly for the male segment of the society now dedicated completely to the administration of the salt mines. Rather, the increase in caries rates in both sexes is best explained within a broader context of overall food habits, new cariogenic foods for both sexes, and the changes in lifestyle imposed by the increased socioeconomic role of the site. Our conclusions stress the limitations imposed by interpreting carious lesions solely in terms of single dietary components, such as maize consumption, without taking into account broader aspects of cultural and socioeconomic relevance.